Baachan
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: a little story that tells a little bit about someone with dementia and what the family goes through. some of it is based on fact while other parts aren't. fem naruto, no pairing


Authors note- This story is sort of my way to vent about what's going on here at home with my dying grandmother.

This story will be partially fact and partially not. I leave it up to you to decide.

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Tsunade probably thought that they were trying to kill her when they couldn't wake her up enough to get her to take her antibiotics for her phnemonia or when she ripped off her oxygen hose and fought them while screaming, hitting kicking and scratching like a wild cat.

Often scoring blows on their faces, arms, stomachs and whatever else she could hit with her hands or feet on. She didn't hold back that was for sure. But no matter how many times she hurt them they refused to stop aggitating her.

She was tired.

They knew that. She had survived eighty seven years of sorrow, pain, abuse, war, loss and grief. It was understandable that she would be tired. But she was family. And a family as tightly knit as the Namikazi's simply didn't give up.

Not on their friends, their co-workers, and god forbid they give up even one of their precious few family members. Still, Tsunade wasn't the only one tired.

Kushina and Minato, the son-in-law and daughter of Tsunade were both tired too. Her constant fighting, arguing, and bickering with them over every little thing had long worn on their nerves.

They had been taking care of her for almost eight years with the help of their two kids. Naruto and Mizu. However Naruto had joined the military and left home at eighteen so that he could make his own way in the world. But secretly they knew that he had abandoned them. He knew what was coming and wanted as far away from it all before it got too bad.

Leaving his older sister and parents to pick up the slack.

And because Minato and Kushina worked while Mizu was disabled, taking care of Tsunade fell to their daughter. Which wasn't so bad at first since she had enjoyed sitting with her grandmother and needling her simply to get her wound up. Mizu found Tsunade's inability to now chase her up and down the field where they lived, funny. And picked at her often.

One year passed, and Tsunade fell and broke her wrist while trying to climb into bed one night. And aside from the numerous doctor's visits because she kept becoming ill and running high fevers, the year was uneventful.

Two more years passed. Naruto met a girl, fell in love so fast that it nauseated Mizu and Kushina. Married. Stayed married for two years, then got divorced and thrown out of the military for a medical condition that nearly killed him while he had been at work one day several month before.

Another year passed and Naruto came back home and moved in with Minato and Kushina with his two cats Twitch, and Makinzie. Soon after that Mizu moved out to go live with her boyfriend, a.k.a the person known as 'oh that damn fool' among the older more opinionated members of Mizu's family.

Mizu was comfortable in her new home, but left every week or so to spend three or four days with her parents so that someone would be there with Tsunade. Mizu could fondly recall those nights when Tsunade would wake up at twelve or two in the morning and mosey into the living room going, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh." While carrying a bizarre array of things from her shoes, socks, PJ's (how the hell had she gotten those off to begin with; Mizu would never know) a pillow, a jacket, and a dolly wearing a pink dress with lace on it and dark curly hair.

"What are you doing granma?" Mizu would ask as she paused her portible CD player and stilled her chair's rocking motion so that she could hear her grandmother better. Tsunade would look at her and frown then look around and demand.

"Well what are you doing up? Is it that time already?"

Mizu's lips would twitch in amusment. "No, Tsunade. It's not. Would you go back to bed and sleep a little bit longer?"

"Why?"

"Cause it's night time to get up yet."

Tsunade would look towards the wall just above the TV at the clock hanging there and squint her eyes and start to argue, "But it's already seven!"

Mizu would shake her head no and point to the clock and say in her most logical tone. "No. It's one thirty. I won't be up at seven."

"Well shit." Tsunade would mutter before tottling off to her room, getting lost in the hall for a moment until Mizu would come up behind her and spin her around and point towards her bedroom before she could get close enough to crawl in bed with Minato or her cousin Shikamaru.

More time passed and with each passing day everyone could see that Tsunade's mental facilities were failing her. She was having trouble recalling their names. She would have trouble breathing. She ate less and slept only when her body crashed.

She was dying. They could all see it and did the best that they could to take care of her.

That had all started almost six years ago and a few months ago Tsunade was diagnosed by a doctor as being in the last stages of dementia.

Mizu expected the phone calls from her mother to start much sooner than they had. But Mizu was at home when the first one came in anyways. She had been writing on her computer, typing out another strange, dark and positively entertaining thing that her mind had come up with while one of her three cats, it was Baby; the black and white tabby that she sometimes mentioned in her work, was trying to crawl in her lap.

And when Mizu made a hissing sound, the tabby quickly retreated to the safety of the arm of her furless mother's chair to stare at her with wide, stricken yellow green eyes until Mizu caved in and petted her while she typed with one hand.

"You are by far the most spoiled-" She started to say to the purring feline as Gale-cat, her nine month old little turquise eyed siamese came walking out form behind the couch and sat down at her feet and meowed pittifully to get her attention.

Mizu sighed and let her head fall back against her chair and nudged the kitten with her foot and winched when sharp little teeth nipped mercilessly at the arch of her foot before the kitten meowed again. Obviously jealous of the good scritching she was giving Baby.

The thirteen pound tabby peeked over the edge of the arm chair and gave Gale-cat what Mizu recognized as the 'smug' look that usually led to the two running around her house hissing and spitting and ripping up the furniture.

Gale-cat flattened her ears back and made a huffing sound as Mizu picked up Baby and set her down on the floor, not wanting to end up in the middle of their little tiff like she had been last time. She'd been totally sure that she'd _bleed_ to death by the time all three of her cats were done fighting in her lap.

She was about to start typing again when the phone rang and she reached over and picked it up and pressed the little green button and put it up to her ear. "Hello." There was a loud oath, in a shrill shrieking tone that Mizu recognized as her mother's voice and instantly wanted to hang up. Whatever her mom had to say could be said in a normal civilized tone.

She started to hang the phone up but froze when she heard a loud bang outside of her house and frowned as she set her computer aside and stood up and walked into the laundry room to peek through the curtains hanging above her door window when the door swung open and her red headed, mother filled the door way and pushed her aside and left the laundry room screaming.

"Oh my god I can't take it anymore!" Mizu closed the door and stood there for a second listening to her mother pace around her living room before she heard the banging of cabinets being opened and slammed shut and cringed as her mom yelled, "Where does Kakashi keep his booze?"

"What makes you think I'm telling you where he keeps it?" Mizu asked in a louder than usual tone, so that her mother could hear her as she walked from the laundry room and into the living room and paused as her hurricane mom ran through all of her cabinets before grabbing a big glass and all but shoved her out of the way when she spotted the Vodka, Rum, Whiskey, and several other alcoholic bevrages behind her on her husbands little bar.

Mizu shot the woman a dark look and made a mental note to dump what was left of the booze out before her mom got too wasted and left her mom to her task and sat back down and waited for her to tell her why she was at her house instead of at her own, watching Tsunade.

Kushina downed two whole glasses of Rum, one of Whiskey then picked up the Vodka and staggered over to the couch and flopped down on it. "I can't take it anymore Mizu. Tsunade is driving us all crazy..."

Mizu said nothing, she just shifted in her seat and propped herself up knowing that her mother probably planned to wail and whine for the next hour or so. Kushina popped the top off fo the Vodka bottle and put it to her lips and took a nice long drink causing Mizu to re evaluate her thought from a second ago.

Well, her mom would whine and wail for the next hour or so as long as she was conscious. But the way she was sucking down Kakashi's booze made her think that her mother would be passed out in the next ten minutes or so. Reaching out Mizu grabbed the bootle and wrested it from her mother's steely grip earning a mean look from her mother.

"What did Tsunade do now?" Mizu asked, not knowing what else to say.

Kushina growled. "She broke her toilet chair by using a vent cover to pee through." Mizu blinked at her mother and tilted her head to the side just a little bit.

"Wh-What?"

"She picked a vent cover off of the vent, then set it across her toilet seat then sat down on it and peed through it." Kushina growled before wailing, "And then she went into the living room, stripped and then tried to go outside while screaming, Help me! Help me!"

"So she still thinks that she's a kidnapping victim?"

Kushina sighed and leaned back against the couch. "Something like that. But that isn't all that she's done to drive me crazy."

"Well then, please go on." Mizu said as she found a nice little nook next to her chair to put the Vodka and put it there, noting the faint glint in her mother's eyes.

"You better give me that back little girl, I'm feeling murderous and while I do love you. It won't stop me from _killing_ you if you don't let me drink in peace."

"Smoke a cigarette. You'll feel better."

"I can't. I finished the whole pack an hour ago-" Kushina whined as she covered her face with her hands for a second then said. "And the day isn't even over with yet..."

Mizu hummed but didn't say anything as her mother slowly started to unload what was bothering her, hoping that Mizu would not only listen but eventually give her a suggestion about what she could do about her mother.

It took about forty five minutes for the older woman to lay all of her problems bare before Mizu reached down and picked up the Vodka bottle and handed it back to her. Kushina made a happy sound and started guzzling it again before Mizu kicked her leg and growled, "_Slowly,_ and don't drink it all."

Kushina took the bottle away from her mouth and asked. "Want some?" Mizu was about to say no due to the fact that alcohol worked against her medicine but upon hearing a loud crash followed by the sound of shattering glass coming from the dining room as Baby and Gale-cat come running around the corner like the hounds of hell were nipping at their heels, grabbed the bottle and muttered.

"Cheers." Then downed some then handed it back to her mother for a drink. The two passed the bottle back and forth and talked for about an hour or so before getting good and buzzed at which point they started making plans to visit Mexico after which Mizu came up with a brilliant plan that started like this.

"Oh! We could change our names. You could be Serina, the charming starving artist. Dad can be...Duango. And me... you can call me...Snow White! And we'll all like in a mushroom painted blue with our magic winged midgits Swan and Heraldo."

Kushina giggled as Mizu flopped back in her chair and sighed as her eyes slowly drifted closed and muttered, "Be a dear and call nine-one-one for me before you leave."

"Too much alcohol?"

"I think so."

"I shall miss you if you die." Kushina slurred formally.

Mizu snorted and cracked open an eye. "You shall do CPR if I die-" She said in a snarky tone that was met by a heartbeat of silence followed by a soft snore. Well hell- Mizu thought as she reached for the phone and missed as Baby came waddling up and meowed at her causing Mizu to growl. "And _you_ would starve to death without me around to feed you. You'd better jump on me if I stop breathing or I will haunt you-"

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3 days later-

Mizu had had ample time to get over having her stomach pumped of almost all of the alcohol that had apparently almost killed her. But whatever it wasn't the first time that too much of something had almost killed her and it probably wouldn't be the last time either.

She'd had two days of down time after coming home from the hospital after which she'd been called at seven in the morning and met her mother on her door step in her sleeping shirt, her pinkish blond hair tousled, and her eyes bleary from lack of sleep as she listened to her mother try to con her into watching Tsunade.

And when that didn't work Kushina tried bartering, blackmailing (yeah that was a stupid thing to do. Mizu had had under an hour of sleep and only laughed at her efforts) but finally after a good deal of begging and sweetening the deal with the promise of twenty bucks for her time, Mizu shrugged closed the door and went and got dressed then let her mom give her a ride down to the house and went inside and planted herself in the rocking recliner that she used to sit in when she visited.

Tsunade lay on the small couch across from her sound asleep from waking up at three or so in the morning then wearing herself out fighting with everyone and beating on the walls no doubt.

Mizu sat there watching the slight rise and fall of her grandmother's side since she was curled up in a peculiar way making it hard for her to see her chest. She could let her grandmother sleep for a few hours before she would have to wake her up and give her her breathing medicine and her antibiotics, vitimins, and other pills.

Then she'd feed her- A nice grilled cheese or a half sandwhich depending on what Tsunade was in the mood for. Followed up by a bannana, or a pudding cup or a milkshake. After that the hard part would start.

The part where she not only had to pick up after Tsunade, but after Shikamaru too since he'd not been smacked enough as a young man and was now as helpless about picking up after himself, feeding himself and so on as Tsunade was.

Mizu sat there rocking and watching Tv for the better part of the morning before her job kicked in and she started to gently shake Tsunade in an effort to wake her up. When that didn't work, she got some ice and dropped it down the back of the woman's shirt. Again this had no effect.

So she went on to smearing lotion on Tsunade's cheek. No reaction. The spritzed her with a squirt bottle of water. Tsunade came up swinging and Mizu grinned a little bit at the reaction despite the fact that she had to dodge the woman's fists carefully or she could really get hurt.

"Stop doing that!" Tsunade screamed at her as she wiped her face and growled, "How would you like having chicken piss sprayed on _your_ face?"

Mizu's lips twitched a little bit. "I'd imagine I wouldn't like it at all."

"don't be such a smart ass or you'll wind up married to a goat." Mizu hummed, not the least bit bothered by the less than lucide conversation and said.

"Kinky." As she sat back down and folded her hands neatly in her lap.

"Or a woodchiper-" Tsunade said aloud. Mizu looked at her and thinned her lips to keep from asking what her grandma was tlaking about when Tsunade said. "I've heard that woodchippers are good in bed."

Mizu snorted and tried not to laugh. Really she did. But Tsunade's mind was way out in left field meaning that she usually said such things more often than she usually did due to the state of her mind. "Well if that's what you've heard then who am I to argue?" Mizu commented absently as her grandmother slowly eased herself back down into a laying postition and snapped.

"A horses ass."

Mizu snickered then got up and stealthily approached her grandma with the squirt bottle in hand, spritzed her three times then skipped out of the room as Tsunade roared, "I'm going to kcik your ass!"

Mizu buisied herself in the kitchen for several miutes, washing dishes and starting Tsunade's lunch before grabbing her pills and going back into the living room with a bottle of water in one hand and the pills in the other and handed them to Tsunade who took them only because she saw it as a chance to try and bite her fingers. After which Mizu started working on the clean laundry, folding and arranging the items in their respective orders then picked up a bushel of towels and made her way to the hallway and slipped in a small puddle of something that smelled suspicously like- _Ew. Urine._

It smelled like Bengay.

She hit the floor with a loud crash that seemed to shake the very walls and lay there for a second with a grossed out look on her face as Tsunade come tottling over to the living room door way and peeked out at her and grinned as a mad glint shone in her dark eyes.

"You peed on the floor huh." Mizu said as she pushed herself up a little bit and did a quick sweep of the damage as Tsunade cackled evilly and said.

"Not me. Some other person did it."

"Yeah, right. Some other person who just happened to get lost and maybe pulled off their diaper." Tsunade shrugged her shoulders.

"When you've got to go you've got to go."

"I'm tempted to rub your nose in it like I do when my cats tinkle where they aren't supposed too."

"You wouldn't."

"I would too-" Mizu joked in a mock angry tone as she sat up and waved her hands around a little bit as she mentally freaked. _Ew! It's on my hands, my shirt, my pants... My skin! Oh my god it's on my skin! Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew! _Tsunade started crying, taking Mizu's joke as an imminent reality and wasn't happy about it. Mizu sighed and gathered up the once clean, but now dirty towels and used one to partially dry off then put the rest in the washer to be re washed.

This was her what her average day consisted of recently. She would watch Tsunade, give her her meds, feed her, pick up after everyone while fighting with her vindictive and sometimes violent natured grandmother. This had been going on for months.

Ever since Shikamaru, Tsunade's usual caretaker had decided that he didn't want to do the job anymore yet still get paid for it. Frankly it was a bunch of bullshit. Just like Tsunade's son's Azu, Natsu, and Miki no longer pitched in or even came to see her.

Tsunade slipped further, and Mizu got into the habit of spending time at her parents house every day. She would sit (whether she was needed or not) and watch TV, or talk to Tsunade.

Finally one day while Mizu was watching her, Tsunade fell asleep on the couch and stopped breathing. And while Mizu wanted to do something for her she felt it would be cruel. So she sat down on the floor next to her grandmother and held her hand for an hour and taked to her.

She was a little bit distraught and wasn't sure what to say but she spoke anyways. Then once she was sure that Tsunade was gone she picked up the phone and dialed her mothers work number to tell her that her mother was gone forever.

And it broke her heart. Really it did. But there was nothing else that they could do now but say goodbye.


End file.
